Divine Light?
by noddwyd
Summary: Harry learns what the word 'love' means, and much fun ensues. The Room of Requirement offers Harry a chance for a vacation from Voldemort and everyday life with five of his closest friends. Adventure follows and the group learn a lot about life through
1. RoR: I require some vacation time please

Disclaimer: Guess what? I do not own Harry Potter. nor do I wish to.  
  
'Arggh', Harry woke from his dream, no, nightmare with a start, his scar burning him harshly, and Voldemort's laughter still ringing in his ears. 'That's it!' he thought, 'I'm done trying to sleep for the night.'  
  
He got up quietly, making sure that no one was woken up by him in his sleep. He grabbed his map, looking down at it in the moonlight, seeing if there was anyone still awake. Harry had found a way to enhance the map, with Hermione's help. It would now not only show you a dot with a person's name to represent them, but it would also have a very short description of what they were up to. He scanned the dormitories.  
  
The Ravenclaw tower had a few people still down in their common room. Their dots seemed overlapped. Which usually meant...he looked at the description above. An arrow pointed to the two dots, from the words 'gettin' it on'. Harry decided to look elsewhere.  
  
Most of the people up in the dorm were asleep. A few of them were doing something he didn't care to think about at the moment, but...where is Luna?' he thought. She seemed to not even be in the tower. He checked the other dormitories quickly. The hufflepuffs were asleep, the Slytherins were doing merlin knows what, he noted a few of them had the descriptor 'plotting your death'. No surprise there.  
  
And the other Gryffindors were...wait a minute...where is Hermione? Harry felt a sudden lurch of uneasiness at that. He scanned the map, looking for the two missing girls. Checking all the usual places. 'Okay, not in the library...wait, what about the room of requirement?'  
  
He quickly found the room, which had recently had a password entry charm placed on it. No matter to Harry though. The map would reveal any tricks or passwords you had to have to enter any door, and he had told it to Hermione and...no, Ron hadn't been there then. He was upset about being kicked off the quidditch team when a better keeper tried out this year, and had been avoiding Harry for some reason.  
  
But what he saw confirmed his fears. There in the Room of Requirement Hermione and Luna were standing, both had the word 'dueling' written above them. He quickly grabbed his cloak, wand, and firebolt and flew down the stairs as silently and quickly as possible.  
  
What seemed like centuries later to Harry he arrived in the corridor which held the room of requirement. He quickly flew up to the already formed door jumped off his broom, said the password and went through the door.  
  
He was just in time to duck, dodging some unknown curse which looked suspiciously like a stunning spell. it hit him in the arm anyway, making it go numb. He dropped his broom. But was able to quickly disarm both of them with a wave of his wand, in their shock.  
  
Hermione looked appalled. "Harry! Oh, I'm so sorry, I- we-" "We were just practicing, Harry" said Luna, with a dreamy smile on her face as she looked up at him. But he had been sure that moments before there had been a look of intense concentration and anger on her face. "You don't look so well though. You'll need to lie down after being hit with that. As she said this, the room changed into a much more inviting and cozy place. It had a huge bed, sitting low to the floor, and a roaring fire in a grate nearby. Luna led him past Hermione towards the bed.  
  
"I didn't know the room could change so much like that when you were already in it." he said. From the look on Hermione's face, as she followed them, she hadn't known either. "I've been coming here since my first year" said Luna, "I've learned a lot about it." She had a very mischievous look on her face when she said this.  
  
"You know, you have dark circles under your eyes Harry" Hermione commented, "You really should get your sleep."  
  
"Well, what were you two doing down here at this hour!?" Harry asked, a bit annoyed.  
  
"Well, we were..." "neither of us could sleep either, actually" Luna interjected, "and this is always where I go when I have trouble with that and want something to read. I guess Hermione just had the same thought" Hermione nodded. "We- we got into a bit of an argument over what the room should have in it," said Hermione. "So we decided to have a 'friendly' duel to decide who got to use it."  
  
'So that's what happened' thought Harry. "oh," he said. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "But you're right Hermione. I need sleep. It's just that Voldemort won't allow that, it seems. I can't block him out, even after all that occlumency training."  
  
They each sat on the bed on either side of him, looking concerned. "I wish there were something we could do about that," said Hermione. Luna looked very sad, but then suddenly brightened. "I think there 'is' something we can do," she said. Hermione looked confused. She and Harry both looked at her questioningly. "What?" asked Harry, eager at any strand of hope for a good night's sleep.  
  
"Well Harry, you told me that when he possessed you, it was your thoughts about Sirius which saved you from him. Do you know why?" Harry shrugged. "Dumbledore said it was my 'heart' that saved me. But I don't really understand." "Yes you do, Harry. It's a part of you. It is called love."  
  
"But...I don't understand what that is. What does 'love' mean?"  
  
"Well," she said, "That is not easy to explain. It is called many things. Friendship, compassion, loyalty, empathy, understanding. Those are all connected through love."  
  
"What it means is that you care about people," said Hermione. "It's different with different relationships, though. For some people they love their parents more than they do their friends. For others it's different. And then of course there are lovers, and people who you love above everyone else." She said all this with her eyes slowly misting over. "I can see how such a thing would hurt Voldemort. He doesn't understand it and can't accept it as a part of his world. He must have given up his humanity entirely for it to burn him so badly though."  
  
Harry was slowly taking all of this in. So this is what they meant. "I see," he said. And then slowly he began to break down. He was too tired to stop the flow of words from his mouth.  
  
"If that's what you mean by love, then I was deprived of it until I met you and Ron on the train that day six years ago. I never told you, but I was made to live in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years. The Dursleys have always hated me, and Dudley made sure I never had any friends at our school back then. Hagrid was the first real friend I ever had, except my parents. But I don't remember that, really. I just remember them dying in front of me, thanks to the dementors. Hermione looked appalled again, and tears started streaming down her face. "I remember one person, actually. A little girl who tried to play with me one day at school. Dudley and his gang caught us and gave me a beating and pulled her hair until the teacher came by. She never talked to me again, after that. But you've never left my side, Hermione. And we're not up against an idiot like Dudley who wants to pull your hair," he smiled a bit at this, and so did she, "I have a powerful sorcerer after me. I guess what I really want to say is 'thank you'. And...and that I love you very much."  
  
He smiled slightly, and realized that he had tears burning in his eyes. Hermione, who also had tears rolling down her cheeks, put her arms around him, and with a smile, said "I love you, too, Harry." The resulting warmth spread through his entire body, and pushed any memories of his dreams out of him completely.  
  
His smile broadened, and he turned to Luna, who looked very sad as well, but had a smile on her face from the sight of the two best friends hugging like that. "And you Luna," said Harry "You saved me from myself, you know. I felt so horrible after Sirius died. As if I had killed him myself."  
  
Hermione's arms tightened around him reassuringly. "But now I know it wasn't my fault, and your words and your love have helped me reach this point. Thank you." She grabbed his now healed left arm and leaned in for a hug as well. "Just as long as you know that I do love you, Harry." she said. "I know," he replied. "and I love you, too" he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. Then he kissed them both on the cheek.  
  
"I bet if I could stay like this all the time, I'd never have another nightmare period, let alone from Voldemort's influence," said Harry softly, and Luna began to giggle. "Hmm?" he asked. "Oh," she said, and she stopped laughing, "It's just that this is what I was going to suggest to help you with that."  
  
"What?" he asked. You mean hugging me before I go to sleep? "No, silly," she said. "I meant us staying with you." She blushed as she said this. Harry had never seen her blush before. He smiled. "Oh. I see...and that's the only reason you want to sleep with me?" She got even redder. "Harry!" said Hermione, who was also blushing now. "don't take this the wrong way, please, but that's not why we're doing this at all, and you know it."  
  
He stuck his tongue out. "I know. I just wanted to see your reactions." They both started hitting him with pillows.  
  
Harry, now very sleepy after everything that had happened, motioned that he was going to move back to the head of the bed and lie down. They followed him and each grabbed one of his hands. Hermione kept squeezing it gently, and Luna was tracing a small circle on the back of his hand with her finger. He was feeling happier and more content than he could ever remember.  
  
'I wish we could just stay here for a couple of weeks. But we don't have what we need, and we'd be missed...' however, as he was thinking this, the room changed again abruptly. Suddenly there were extra doorways, leading into what seemed to be a bath, much like the marble prefects bathroom he had been in one time before, and another which must have lead to a kitchen. But the amazing thing was that an hourglass had appeared on a long chain around his neck. He smiled and laughed out loud, turning to Luna.  
  
"Did you do that?" "No," she smiled at him. "You did."  
  
"...Well, what are we waiting for?" said Hermione, "Let's use it. I for one think we could all use a vacation from the rest of the world."  
  
"Hermione, you must tell me sometime how you keep reading my mind." said Harry. She laughed. They sat up. He threw the chain around her neck, and then Luna's. "So, Hermione, how can you tell how far back it will take us?" She grabbed the hourglass and lifted it up, examining the runes carved into it. "It says one turn will take us back two weeks. That sounds like plenty of time to me," she said, winking at the other two.  
  
She turned the hourglass over, and a few seconds later they were pulled backwards in a rush of sound and color until they were right back where they started, in the Room of Requirement.  
  
"Yes!" said Harry. "Two weeks of no classes and no Voldemort!" he leaned back into the pillows, his arms outstretched. The girls followed suit, though they reminded him they were doing this to stop his nightmares, and not for any other reasons. Hermione had her head resting on Harry's shoulder, and Luna somewhere on his arm.  
  
As Harry slowly lost consciousness, his last thought was 'so this is what it's like to sleep on a cloud.' 


	2. RoR: I think we're inviting a few more ...

Disclaimer: see first chapter. btw, I don't own it.  
  
AN: hey guys sorry it took so long for this, but things happen and I'm trying to do several projects at once now to try  
  
and catch up. The thing is, though, I'm not sure which direction to go with this from here. I could bring in some other  
  
characters so that the three of them won't eventually get bored with each other over the next two weeks, and also so there  
  
could maybe be some pairing off. I know this is in the H/L section, but it may not stay there much longer, as I also love H/Hr  
  
and R/L as well as a few other pairings more than I do H/L. But I still like H/L a lot. I hope it happens in cannon if H/Hr  
  
does not for some reason. coughRoncough. sorry....must be the pollen in the air. Not to mention, considering that   
  
this story involves time travel, well, things have the potential to get very confusing and even comical very quickly, you  
  
know? I hope to have a lot of fun with this one, and in the process teach these kids that there is a limit to how much you  
  
can screw around with time before nothing makes sense anymore. hahaha. well, you'll see what I mean. Or will you?  
  
=================  
  
part two: Another One Dragged Down (or is it up?) with them  
  
Ginevra Molly Weasley was, at the moment, completely fed up with boys, and they're persistant misperceptions that she was  
  
their property no matter how well they lied about thinking of her that way. Having just dumped one Dean Thomas after he'd  
  
accidentally gave his ideas about their relationship away to her when he didn't think she was around to hear, she felt she  
  
would be justified in taking the whole male population of Hogwarts and feeding them to the Giant Squid, one by one. Starting  
  
with Dean, of course. And then Michael. Then maybe her idiot brother, Ronald, whom she knew Hermione was close to killing  
  
off anyway, considering how he just didn't understand simple English when it came to the fact that she did not like him 'that'W  
  
way.' Then again, there may be better ways of dealing with them. Perhaps she could find a way to make them all switch   
  
genders for a week, and see how they liked it. '...then again, some of them might actually like that' she thought.   
  
'Perverts...' the only guys in the whole school she was sure were 'not' perverted egotistical pigs were Harry, and...Neville?  
  
Wait, where did that come from? 'Well, it's true' she argued with herself, 'Although it's probably only because all the   
  
ridicule and abuse they've both endured has permentantly damaged their masculinity.' She used the last word bitterly as if  
  
it were a horrible swear word. She couldn't believe Dean, lying to her like that. And she had just been planning to jump   
  
him! 'I can't believe I ever considered that with him.' she thought as she supressed a shudder. She had been walking around  
  
the castle to no place in particular, and suddenly she realized she was in Myrtle's bathroom, which lead to the Chamber of  
  
Secrets. She blanched. This was the last place she wanted to be. It just brought back horrible memories. But as she was  
  
turning to go, she noticed a note attached to the mirror above a certain sink which she knew would sink into the floor and  
  
allow entrance to the Chamber which she opened so many times, calling forth in that horrible voice for the basilisk to come  
  
out. Over the past few years she had slowly started to remember all of those things she did in horrifying dreams she had  
  
occasionally.  
  
She looked a little closer at the note and saw it was addressed to her, and written in what looked like her own handwriting:  
  
Dearest Ginny,  
  
On behalf of the 'inner circle of the DA', that is to say, myself, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville, I would like  
  
to invite you to come to our party. We're skipping for a few weeks to relax a bit and get a real chance to think about new  
  
ways to fight off evil forces, such as 'masculinity', which I know you've been having problems with lately, as, duh, I'm you.  
  
So just get your skinny ass down to the Room of Requirement pronto, and you'll get further instructions on how to reach us  
  
from there.   
  
Love from,  
  
Ginny  
  
and underneath were the other people's signatures as well.  
  
She read the letter, and reread it two more times to be sure it wasn't part of her imagination. 'I wrote myself a letter??'  
  
....  
  
'well, it sure looks like my handwriting...and they did say they could help with that little problem...ah, what the hell.'  
  
And without further ado she stuck the note in her pocket and sped out of the creepy bathroom before Myrtle could notice she  
  
was there.   
  
'But what if it's a trap created by...him?. Maybe I should go show this to Dumbledore, or just go straight to Hermione and ask  
  
if he really did sign this note.'  
  
But before she could head off to the Gryffindor tower, an owl found it's way to her and gave her another note.   
  
This one was from Harry:  
  
Ginny,  
  
C'mon, we're all waiting, yes, the letter was for you, we knew you'd be the one to find it there, it wasn't meant as a   
  
joke or anything. I can explain everythign when you get here. Hurry.  
  
Harry  
  
'Okay, it's for real then, or my mind is really playing tricks on me again. I wonder what they've gotten themselves into now?'  
  
She turned and headed in the direction of the Room of Requirement  
  
===========  
  
"You know, love, you'd think after all we've done together over the past few weeks you'd be more eager to get here." Neville  
  
ribbed as they were waiting for Ginny's counterpart to arrive. Ginny turned slightly red, but then a smirk appeared on her  
  
face as she said "Neville, dear, you are simply far too confident in your abilities I'm afraid..."  
  
Neville blanched. "W-Wait, but you said-" but he was interrupted by her breaking out into a fit of giggles.   
  
"Oh, you looked so worried!" she managed between laughs. Neville looked unimpressed. "Oh you'll pay for that one, Gin."  
  
and with that he started tickling her, which caused her to laugh even harder and they ended up falling to the floor.  
  
Ronald, who had been watching them from the corner, sharing a butterbeer with Luna, who happened to be in his lap at the   
  
moment, was momentarily distracted by his sisters antics, and flinched at the thought of what they were implying, but somehow  
  
he just couldn't get angry while Luna was running her fingers through his hair like that. He could remember the first time  
  
she did this after he saw Neville and Ginny together snogging in the pool, and what she had said to him afterwards. He still  
  
wasn't all that comfortable though, knowing his little sister was with someone. But he didn't think Neville was the type to  
  
hurt her, unlike her previous boyfriends. He sighed, looking at the clock.  
  
"Hey Harry, shouldn't we be getting out of here so she won't see us? I mean finding the note is one thing...but didn't she   
  
say she didn't see us until after she went back?"  
  
"Ron, for the fiftieth time, the Door of Requirement will take care of that! She will not even end up in the same room with   
  
us at all!" said Hermione irritably. She looked like she wanted to say more, but Harry blew gently in her ear and she seemed  
  
to calm down.  
  
Ron's face had gone sour. "Didn't ask you anyway, 'Mione." he said, and childishly stuck out his tongue at her back, to  
  
which Harry stuck out his, playfully. However, he wasn't prepared when Hermione almost visciously grabbed his tongue between  
  
her teeth and pulled him into a kiss. Ron blushed, but was bewildered if he should be thankful it wasn't him, or jealous...  
  
however Luna stopped his train of thought entirely by laughing and then copying Hermione's move. Ginny and Neville had  
  
long since stopped their little tickling session to watch the show.  
  
"Let's sneak off where they can't find us while he's still distracted...that hypocrite," said Ginny, looking angrily at her  
  
brother.   
  
She grabbed Neville by the arm and then pulled out her wand, muttering a spell under her breath and drawing a door  
  
on the wall. she then opened the door and they both walked through it, the door closing and dissapearing behind them.  
  
A few minutes later, Ron wondered aloud "Where did those two get off to?" The others shrugged, and he soon found he didn't  
  
really care about his sister's whereabouts as he was just too preoccupied with the beautiful girl in front of him.  
  
=========  
  
Meanwhile, Ginny was standing in the Room of Requirement, which was completely empty except for a note tacked onto the back  
  
wall with an ornate dagger whose handle looked like the head of a lion, with the blade extending from it's mouth. also   
  
hanging on the wall around the dagger was a small hourglass around a long chain.   
  
Not one to waste time, she reached up and pulled the blade from the note and began to read it.  
  
Dear Ginny,  
  
I do hope you like the dagger. Apparantly it belonged to one of Harry's ancestors, which he learned about through  
  
the use of this room. You should probably give it to him when you see him. Anyway, the hourglass is how you get to where  
  
we are. Just put it around your neck and turn the hourglass over once. But I would make sure no one followed you before   
  
you use it. We don't want any of Voldemort's spies to know what we're up to or anything. Or what this room is really   
  
capable of, which myself and one other person have been keeping secret from everyone. But you know I trust you.  
  
Hope to see you soon,  
  
Luna  
  
In confusion, and amazement at the fact that Luna had been hiding things about the room from them all last year, Ginny  
  
quickly used a few spells to check for anyone invisible in the room as well as checking outside the door for anyone. Then,  
  
confident that she hadn't been followed, she placed the hourglass around her neck and turned it over. still holding the   
  
dagger and the note.  
  
Instantly, she felt a great rush of wind, and images rushed past her, only in reverse. Suddenly she realized she was moving  
  
backwards in time, and in shock, she dropped the note. Then, as quickly as it had started, the wind stopped, and she was   
  
standing in a very different Room of Requirement, and also standing over the three sleeping forms of Luna, Harry, and  
  
Hermione. Both of the girls seemed to be wrapped around Harry in one way or another, and breifly she felt her old feelings  
  
for him flare, along with her anger. But then she was just shocked that Harry would have done such a thing...although...  
  
they did all still seem to have pajamas on, at least.  
  
Bewildered, shocked at what she had just done, along with what she had just seen, she decided the best thing to do was to  
  
wake up Luna and show her the note she had left for her, demanding some answers.  
  
But, looking around, she noticed the note was nowhere to be found. and with that, she threw up her hands in frustration, and  
  
walked over to the couch in front of the fire and plopped down to think about what just happened, and why they would be   
  
asleep when she got here, rather than waiting to greet her like their notes had made it sound. Did Luna want to gloat over  
  
the fact that she had gotten Harry into bed with her? But that didn't make any sense, she realized. For one, Luna isn't  
  
like that, and second, she'd been over Harry for a while now, and Luna knew that. But still, looking over at them all  
  
asleep like that on that huge bed made her jealous. They just looked too happy about it for their own good, she decided.  
  
She took the hourglass, which she now realized was a timeturner, off of her neck and was examining it when a voice to her  
  
right startled her.   
  
"Ginny?" whispered a very sleepy looking Harry who was rubbing his eyes and putting on his glasses. "Is that you? How did  
  
you get in here?" He spied the hourglass in her hands and his eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"   
  
Ginny just looked on in shock. "...Harry, you sent me a note and told me to come to the Room of Requirement, and I did.   
  
When I got here there was nothing but a note and this timeturner and this wierd dagger. The not was from Luna, she said the  
  
dagger was yours. That it belonged to your ancestor or something wierd like that. But I lost that note. I still have yours  
  
though." She pulled it out of her robes and gave it to him. "I'm not going insane am I? And what are you three doing   
  
all sleeping together in here? and in the same bed, like that. It looked like the three of you had just..."   
  
Harry's eyes widened even more, and he blushed. "No," he whispered vehemently, still trying not to wake the others, "It was  
  
nothing like that. They were just trying to help me with, with my nightmares. You know, the ones with Voldemort. But I   
  
don't remember writing this note, Ginny, and it looks like my future or past self did it so you would end up here now for   
  
some reason. But look, I'm still very tired, and I needed to go to the bathroom and get back to bed." he said and then  
  
yawned, walking towards a door on the left wall which she hoped was the bathroom. He stopped and turned before closing the  
  
door, and said "Anyway, Gin, you can sleep over with us if you want, just, I want the spot next to Hermione, okay?" He then  
  
winked at the now blushing Ginny and shut the door behind him. Suddenly she was almost annoyed with the fact that this was   
  
not anything sexual and realized she would have to sleep in her clothes she was wearing as she didn't have any of her things  
  
there with her. She turned back to the fire and suddenly there were a pair of pj's there waiting for her. She smirked.  
  
"A girl could get used to living in this room." and she quickly changed into them and climbed into the bed next to Luna, just  
  
as Harry was walking back towards the bed, laying his glasses on the nightstand next to it, and climbing carefully over   
  
Hermione to position himself between her and Ginny. Then, Hermione rolled over in her sleep and snuggled in closer to Harry,  
  
making him smile and snake his arm around her waist. He was out within seconds. Ginny then lay there wondering how she had  
  
gotten into this position and finally gave in and started to drift off, as if the ceiling was hypnotizing her into sleeping.  
  
She copied Harry and Snaked an arm around Harry and shortly after she drifted off to sleep, and knew no more.  
  
A/N: sorry about that, it's just my brother keeps making jokes about that 'knew no more' line and I just had to use it.   
  
It's too funny. Next time they'll probably try to work out just what is going on and I'll be mean to them and confuse the  
  
situation even more by having the others show up. Isn't this fun? I think it is. 


	3. RoR: Hi, this is your captain speaking

a little author's note of sorts before we begin. Just to warn everyone following the other stories, I'm sorry but I'm having technical difficulties transferring data to and from my old computer and as such some of the new chapters can't be uploaded yet even though they're ready and there are even some other stories I have been unable to post yet at all. So for now I'll be working with this computer until mine is beaten back into shape. I know I have a nasty habit of not getting anywhere with my stories, but in reality its just that I lack the free time to build upon my original ideas. The Melkor fic has me particularly stumped with how to proceed in Harry's relationship with his former self. Next, before you continue reading, IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be indulging myself with this story in a kind of godmode!Harry simultaneously with massive crossover, mostly video games but some other things as well. I have yet to decide if this will be serious or just play. I may even incorporate it into my Divine Light? story. I'm sure I can work it in somehow in their search through time and space for power and knowledge to help defeat Voldemort. That's one of the perks of the Room of Requirement. oh, small note. I absolutely hated HBP except for one thing which I went nuts over. And that one thing is Felix Felicis. The moment Harry took that potion for the first time I was immediately reminded of Vash the Stampede, and how he always appears to accidentally do everything right. It was a great moment for me. 

and now let's get on with it!

It was difficult at this point to discern how they had gotten into this situation (noddwyd: which, as the storyteller, leads me to wonder if that isn't how the creators of the multiverse sometimes feel. Harry: Shut up and let us have our fun. noddwyd: fine, be that way.). They had successfully covinced Ginny's future or rather 'present' self to come back in time to be with them along with Neville somehow, all despite Hermione's continual insistence that it was highly dangerous and probably impossible anyway, and now after they'd had some rest and recreation Harry had remembered something he'd always wanted to try which Dudley guarded from him jealously. Video Games. Of course Hermione rolled her eyes at this but Harry reminded her that he had had a poor excuse for a childhood and wanted the universe to 'cough it up', so to speak. The rest, being purebloods were at a loss, although Ginny and Ron had some half baked notions of what playstations were that they had picked up from their father.

Harry and Hermione were trying to explain to the pureblood people in the room how electronics and complex computer programs like these games worked and what they were like. Luna was interested in the technical aspects of it explained by Hermione but also offered the opinion that it was an awful lot like the magical abilities of an amuigh worm to act as a window into an alternate universe, which made Hermione's right eye begin to twitch. Ron and Ginny began to want to try this out for themselves but Harry was worried that, as Hermione pointed out, electronics weren't likely to work here in the Room of Requirement, perhaps the most magical place in the entire castle. That's when _she_ showed up.

Suddenly appearing in the room with them, or rather, the pocket universe the room was providing them with, was a beautiful, tall woman with fierce peircing green eyes and long black hair. "I wish you wouldn't keep calling me 'the room of requirement' it sounds as if I'm a slave. I only let you stay here because I like you and you hold the fate of this world and my own fate in your hands, Potter!"

They were all six of them stunned speechless for a moment. (I'll give you three guesses who starts asking questions first, and the first two don't count.)

"Who...What are you!" Hermione almost screeched.

"Manners girl, you stand before the living consiousness of this castle which has protected you and nurtured you for the past six years!"

"You're Hogwarts!" asked Ron stupidly, getting a puzzled look on his face. "How come you don't look older?"

The woman began to slowly turn red.

"I am not old!" she shouted. "I'm only 1101 years young!" Hermione's eye began to twitch again. (author's note: If this were anime, they all would have just fell backwards at that last remark, just so you know...)

"Erm..." began Harry.

"Harry dear, you wanted to play video games, right?" He nodded, still in shock from her sudden appearance and declaration of who she was and how old she was by association. "Well, dearest, if you want I can make a magical version of these 'electronics' as you call them, and you can play whatever you like. I always keep up with the latest releases of, well, everything." she paused to smirk and giggle maniacally. "Oh, by the way, my name is Noxedemea, but you can just call me Nox", she said with a wink. "The reason I haven't appeared to you before is because I've been away for the past fifty years on holiday in an alternate universe, but that's neither here nor there, so..."

At this point Hermione passed out. Luckily Nox caught her with a handy couch which just happened to appear beneath her. Harry rushed to check on her, but Nox assured him she would be fine with some rest and a chance to process the information. "I apologize, I just can't help but love the feeling of shattering preformed misconceptions people have about everything in the multiverse, especially things they really put weight in. Like for instance people think muggles have no magic at all when in fact they do have some forms of it, and one of them are these video games you're wanting to play Harry. Theyr'e not aware of it themselves even, but they can open windows for the soul into alternate realities, and when Hermione wakes up I will take you to whatever of those worlds you wish to go to. Did you have anything in particular in mind?

"Can't you..." Harry trailed off remembering how the room always seemed to know what he was thinking before now. The smile slid into a serious look on her face. "Yes I can read your mind Harry but I'd rather communicate this way instead now that I'm back. I've had the room on auto pilot for too long."

"Oh, I see. Well, no, I didn't think I'd really like any of the ones Dudley had, as they were all about aliens blowing up and people kicking the snot out of each other. So really I have no idea which ones I would like and which ones I wouldn't."

Ron suddenly spoke up. "You sure you wouldn't like to get into a boxing match with malfoy in a place where there wouldn't be any conseqences for it?"

The thought struck Harry like a ton of bricks, and he suddenly remembered a commercial he had seen once.

"Brilliant idea, Ron. Though," he said turing to Ginny and Luna, "I'm not sure everyone would enjoy that."

"Oh, I'll go" said Ginny, "I'd never pass up the chance to knock some death eaters flat." Ron smirked and looked towards Luna. "How about it?"

She smiled. "I will go as well, new experiences are not to be passed up so lightly, Ronald." 'Ronald' smiled. "That's what I love about you," he said.

"You're not leaving me behind if that's what you think!" said Hermione who had just gotten up. "You okay, Hermione?" asked Harry. "Yes, and I'm sorry about before," she said to Nox. "I understand. It's my fault as well," she said with a chuckle.

"Alright," said Nox, "I hope you know you're all about to become zooanthropes, for we go now to listen to the bloody roar of primal instinct." And with that everything faded to white and the group found themselves in another world.

Unfortunately they were surrounded on all sides by men with guns pointed right at them. One spoke into a radio held in his hand. static "Sir, intruders in the containment room." static "Captain, if they're Zoe's then wax 'em."

Placing the communicator in his belt he raised his weapon at them. "Alright folks, who are you and how did you get in here. Are you Zooanthropes?" Harry looked fearfully over at Nox. "Well, are we?" Nox snorted. "Sure are. We are, in fact, screwed. We're going to have to fight our way out of this. I warn you. Transforming is painful at first. Just focus on your inner animal. And with that, she transformed, although not into any of the half beast half man forms Harry remembered seeing on the tv, but rather into a half-crocodile. The soldiers backed away, the captain grabbing his communicator frantically. "Sir, Nox is in the building, send backup immediately!" Then to his men, "Open fire!" Harry ducked pulling the others with him. Nox was amazing, using her massive tail to swipe the soldiers feet out from under them. and her jaws to catch an unlucky one that escaped her tail and ripped him in half. Harry felt a bit sick, but then a monster erupted in his bloodstream and begged to be released...to rip...to tear these people to pieces and devour them, and to protect his herd. Heeding Nox's advice, as it was the only thing that could keep him alive at this point since he had noticed before he didn't have his magic in this world, he let the monster take over, and felt unimaginable pain, worse than any curse he may have endured before. Ron beside him was also undergoing the transformation. He noticed vaguely a firey mane and gold fur forming along with claws and teeth.

His own transformation turned out quite different. He had white fur, and his sense of smell and sound changed drastically. His eyesight changed, becoming sharper but less colorful at the same time. He also had claws and very sharp teeth, plus a somewhat shaggy tail. He and Ron leaped into the fight, slashing and biting left and right. Nox laughed, a rough, deep sound comming from her enlarged throat as the last soldier died. "Pitiful, don't you think? Don't worry, you'll get a real challenge soon enough." She changed back to normal, as did Ron and Harry, the blood lust fading. Harry spit blood and flesh out of his mouth, and gagged. "That was more satisfying than it should have been." Nox laughed again. "I'm surprised you are a dog, and an albino at that. It appears your friend Ron is the natural born leader and strategist, not you. Lions almost always indicate that." "And what do crocodile's indicate?" asked Harry, not a little upset that he had gotten the group into this without thinking. Somehow he never thought it would be so...real. She snorted again. "A very cold hearted and maniacal sense of humor," she said, and turned to walk away. The others were speechless. "What have we become!" demanded Hermione. "It felt like something monstrous trying to take control of me!" Nox looked at her sadly. "It is the primal instinct. I feel that no one should have the right to judge beings with physical bodies, particularly men, until they have been made to feel that terrifying power and see what it can do. Zooanthropes have a hard existense in society because of these instincts. They are often difficult to resist. You're friend Lupin suffers the same thing every day." Hermione gasped. "Yes, the forces of nature are very powerful. But they are not the most powerful force in the universe. Which is how he is able to control them as you will be able to over time." "It was scary.." Neville said, in a shaky voice. "Yes, fear is also a primal instinct, but you will master it in time Mr. Longbottom."

Ginny seemed exhilirated but also a little spooked and Luna seemed just as serene as ever, as if she'd known this fact of life all along. "Oh, one more thing, although I'm sure you've already figured this out, Luna my dear, the changes we undergo in each new world we enter will be permenant back in the 'real' world. I hope none of you are averse to learning to live with your inner animal, cause once they're awakened they don't go dormant again."

tbc...soon.


End file.
